LAKELAND, Fla.– The Florida Southern College volleyball team saw their three-game win streak come to an end on Diabetes Awareness Night as they fell to Sunshine State Conference opponent Palm Beach Atlantic on Friday night with scores 23-25, 23-25, 25-21, 16-25.
The Mocs dropped their first two sets but rallied back in set three before falling in set four to the Sailfish. With the loss, FSC falls to 13-9 overall and 9-6 in the conference, while PBA moves to 14-12 on the season and 7-8 in the SSC.
HOW IT HAPPENED
1st Set | The Mocs and Sailfish were back and forth during the first five points of play, but Southern broke away after back-to-back kills from outside hitter Ali Travis and right side Emma Shaddix to make it 7-4. PBA tied it up at 10 all but a setter dump from Cassidy Markel broke the tie and advanced the Mocs to a 12-11 lead. The Sailfish saw their first lead of the set after an error from the Mocs, but a Travis kill would tie it up again at 17-17. PBA took a quick lead but the Mocs jumped right back in tying it up after a Tierra Porter kill at 21-21. Florida Southern would drop the first set after a bad set and attack error.
- Set one saw a total of 15 ties throughout the match as the Mocs led the majority of the time until the 16-17 mark.
- Florida Southern totaled 15 kills while Palm Beach Atlantic dished out just 10
- Petermann was the leader in kills to start it off with seven kills.
2nd Set | The second set started out the same as the first with a back and forth rally, but the Mocs took a big lead after several hitting errors from the Sailfish and a giant Porter kill to set up the game with a 10-5 lead for Southern. PBA would come within one of FSC but did not tie it up with the Mocs offense until 21-21. Jazz Schmidt had back-to-back kill's to take the lead at 23-21 for the Sailfish, but the Mocs did not let up as Shaddix and company came within one after a long rally-ending kill from the senior. Unfortunately for the Mocs, the second set would go to PBA with another 23-25 decision.
- Set two only saw six ties, as FSC led the entire first half, until the 21-all score.
- Florida Southern and Palm Beach Atlantic threw out 17 kills apiece
- Porter led the Mocs in set two hitting .636, for seven total kills out of 11 attempts.
3rd Set | With the Mocs down after two 23-25 sets Southern needed to find the momentum to break away in set three. With the defense on top of their game, FSC was able to tie the game after big blocks from Jana Gilic, Petermann, and Markel. Gilic went back to serve and brought the Mocs ahead by one to make it 9-8. Travis, Petermann, and Porter each dished out kills to bring the Mocs ahead to make it 17-13. An ace from PBA allowed them to come within three points of FSC, followed by an attack to come within one but an ace from Travis allowed Southern to extend the game to four sets.
- Opposite of the first two sets, Southern started off behind, but it paid their favor as they rallied to take set three.
- After three sets, Mocs led in all categories: Kills - Petermann 17; hitting percentage - Porter .600; digs - Formalin 22; assists - Markel 43; and blocks - Gilic with four total.
- Petermann led FSC in kills with seven for the set.
4th Set | Southern got down early in the set with a 9-2 difference; before a service error allowed the Mocs to break PBA's streak. The Sailfish already had a 10-point lead before FSC could find their footing from the set before. Travis tried to start the Mocs off on a run after a big kill, but Southern could not stop Palm Beach Atlantic's offense.
- Emily Crescenzi stepped into the middle and joined up with Shaddix to get a big block late in the contest.
- FSC went on a late 5-0 run, but it wasn't enough as PBA already had a giant led over the Mocs.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Petermann led the way with a total of 18 kills, followed by nine digs and a block assist.
- Travis also finished in double-digits with 13 kills followed by 10 digs.
- Porter dished out 10 kills of her own to close out the double-digit kills for the Mocs.
- Markel led the team with 48 assists tagging on an ace for FSC.
- Formilan closed out the stats putting up 25 digs on the day.
UP NEXT
The Mocs continue their home streak tomorrow as they host Lynn University in another SSC matchup. The first serve is scheduled for 4 p.m.
